"It's been [Bush's] misguided policy and his mismanaged war that have actually fuelled extremism and extremists in Iraq, Afghanistan and beyond," Biden said.

"The president, in my view, likes to confuse the American people by conflating Iraq, al-Qaeda in Iraq, with the terrorists who attacked us on 9/11."

Power vacuum

At a news conference in Tehran, Ahmadinejad said: "The political power of the occupiers [of Iraq] is being destroyed rapidly and very soon we will be witnessing a great power vacuum in the region."

He said that Iran "with the help of regional friends and the Iraqi nation, are ready to fill this void" and noted that Saudi Arabia was one of the countries Iran was ready to work with.

Ahmadinejad said the US and other forces had run out of solutions in Iraq [AFP]

With Shia Muslims now in power in Baghdad, ties have strengthened between Iran and Iraq since 2003, when US-led forces toppled Saddam Hussein, Iraq's Sunni president.

Ahmadinejad said the region did not need countries from "thousands of kilometres away" to provide security and said that US and other forces in Iraq and Afghanistan had run out of solutions.

"They are trapped in the swamp of their own crimes," he said. "If you stay in Iraq for another 50 years, nothing will improve, it will just worsen."

Destructive influence

In his speech in Reno, Bush accused Iran's leadership of trying to destabilise Iraq, calling Tehran a destructive influence that put American lives at risk.

"Iran is sending arms to the Taliban in Afghanistan to be used to attack American and Nato troops," Bush said.

"The most important and immediate way to counter the ambitions of al-Qaeda and Iran and other forces of instability and terror is to win the fight in Iraq."

Bush and other US officials have long accused Iran of supplying weapons to groups in Iraq.

"The Iranian regime must halt these actions," Bush said. "Until it does, I will take the actions necessary to protect our troops. I have authorised our military commanders in Iraq to confront Tehran's murderous activities."

Earlier this month, US officials said that Washington might soon name Iran's Revolutionary Guards a foreign terrorist group, a move that would enable the US to target the force's finances.

A report by General David Petraeus, the US commander on the ground in Iraq, and Ryan Crocker, the US ambassador to Iraq, is due to be submitted to congress by September 15.

With 164,000 US troops in Iraq and the patience of the American public and the Democrat-controlled congress growing thin, there is speculation the report could trigger a change in Iraq policy.